Ranjona Banerji: Did the nation get to know what it wanted to know when Gentleman Goswami interviewed the PM?

By Ranjona Banerji

Let us not be ungracious. Congratulations must be given to Times Now and to its editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami for getting an interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This is no small achievement. Modi’s interaction with the press, since becoming Prime Minister, has been very scant and mainly limited to selfie-taking sessions. Goswami has also managed to pip other channels – for instance, Aaj-Tak – to the post here.

But did the nation get to know what it wanted to know? That is, would Goswami be as he is on his show – fire and brimstone and with an underlying tone of the panellists or interviewee “being thrown to the dogs” Ramsay Bolton style with Modi? Or was he the sweet, simpering, frankly terrified (like a Bolton victim?) who interviewed Raj Thackeray? Or was he like the schoolyard bully who tore into a lost and hapless Rahul Gandhi?

The answer should of course be obvious – he was gentle and considerate. He asked some pertinent and even tough questions but did press further when he did not get an answer. He allowed Modi to provide his bland answers and present himself as a reluctant politician who is only interested in the “development” of the country. The Prime Minister is a consummate public performer and given that Goswami was largely docile, he was never going to be a threat. People may remember that this was how Goswami interviewed Modi before he became PM, though arguably he was a little sweeter this time.

The media should note that it is to blame for making “heroes” out of the publicity seekers in Modi’s own party and parivar, according to the Prime Minister. One assumes that it would suit the BJP tremendously if we ignored all the communal hate-mongering that routinely emerges from BJP elected officials and members of Parliament.

As an aside, this is also Modi’s response to current problem within the BJP over Subramanian Swamy’s attacks on Arun Jaitley. Modi has honed in solely on Swamy’s need for “publicity” which is what drives him to attack people within his own party publicly. It does not take even half a degree in “entire” political science to know that Swamy’s game is a bit more devious than only looking for “publicity”. But if Goswami accepted that argument from the PM, reluctantly or otherwise, then it is an interesting way to see yourself as a journalist. Or look at it this way: Union finance minister Arun Jaitley has cut short his trip from China to deal with Swamy’s assaults on him and his team. Does that sound like Swamy is merely a misguided publicity-seeker?

But disingenuous answers to tepid questions apart what is the takeaway from this interview for the media? Undoubtedly that Goswami has proved that he is India’s top anchor and everyone else can weep! He got the elusive Prime Minister of India to agree to an interview. The fact that the interview is headline news for practically every newspaper in India tells you how important Goswami’s achievement is. He has also proved that fire and brimstone has to be used not indiscriminately but selectively. If Ramsay Bolton had figured that out, he might not have become dinner for hungry doggies!

I however will continue to watch Wimbledon, which started on Monday on Star Sports, rather than Times Now. And if you’re really interested, also the season six finale of Game of Thrones which airs tonight in India.